The Addams Family films, in grotesque mockery of a 1930s nuclear family, bring new meaning to “2.5 kids and a dog” when they eat their third child and keep on a disembodied hand to retrieve their mail. The Addams Family lovingly encourages weirdness, a refreshing change from most 90s-era children’s claptrap.

So none of the memorable lines belong to Buttercup, despite the fact that she’s the title character. That aside, Princess Bride seamlessly combines comedy, action, and romance in a playful satire of children’s fairy tales. From Vizzini’s “Inconceivable!” to Inigo Montoya’s search for a six-fingered father-slayer, the film pleases everyone (except the Blockbuster employees who don’t know which section to shelve it in). It’s basically impossible to dislike a movie this charming. And besides, Cary Elwes.

The unofficial sequel to the Wizard of Oz, made 46 years after the original, is darker, more sinister, and much, much scarier than the 1939 yellow-brick-road classic (and Potter doesn’t hold a floating candle to Return to Oz). Dorothy (played by a pigtailed Fairuza Balk) gets shipped off to the loony bin, transported to Oz with her talking chicken Billina, meets up with Jack Pumpkinhead, Tik-Tok, the evil Wheelers, the Nome King, and most haunting of all, Mombi and her cases full of interchangeable heads.

BEETLE JUICE

Highlight numero uno is when the dinner table gets possessed, the guests shimmy to the “Banana Boat Song,” and crab claws shoot out plates and toss everyone to the floor. Gothy Winona Ryder befriends the homey ghost couple (Gena Davis and Alec Baldwin) and is almost forced to marry sleaze ghost Michael Keaton.

FLIGHT OF DRAGONS

Came out around the same time as The Last Unicorn (which might be part of the reason it was a straight-to-video affair), but the animation is fresh and elegant, the dragons are alternately vicious and bumbling, the quest plot captivates, and the closing scene ― where technology and magic come face-to-face is still powerful.

GREMLINS

Gremlins blends horror and comedy in a tale of an imported Chinese pet that, when not properly cared for, spawns a brood of bloodthirsty monsters. Luckily for the negligent American family in question, the gremlins have a weakness for ordinary kitchen appliances.

THE PEANUT BUTTER SOLUTION

A kid’s hair falls out from fright (harum-scarum); he gets a magical goo to spread on his scalp in which peanut butter features as the main ingredient; kid’s hair grows and grows, and not just on his head. And turns out a painter needs brushes made with human hair. It’s billed as a comedy, but it’s actually terrifying.

THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN

It’s a like a Dali painting. With more explosions. And Robin Williams.

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS

In an enigmatic blend of influences (Beauty and the Beast, Frankenstein, and Tim Burton’s own life experiences), Edward Scissorhands features an unfinished robot recluse who struggles to find his niche in friends, art, and life. Johnny Depp’s stunning portrayal of Edward and his connection with Burton’s style kick-started further projects involving the now-famous duo.

WILLIE WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

Nothing like a psychedelic boat ride down a chocolate river into the heart of a candy factory… You guys ever wonder why it’s called Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when Wonka’s factory makes all types of candies? Hmm. Anyway, Gene Wilder is scrumdidlyumptious in the original, where Johnny Depp is just didily in the remake — yucky, mud, yikes.

Review: Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant You’ve seen it all before: a boy with a special destiny tangles with the occult and gets sucked out of his normal life and into the twilight realm of the supernatural, in the process setting the stage for paranormal war between good and evil.

Wizards and masterpieces At “Harry Potter: The Exhibition” at the Museum of Science, when a robed attendant places the sorting hat on a visitor’s head and soon after a door whooshes open to reveal the Hogwarts Express, you find yourself filled with the kind of giddy expectation you feel when getting your hands on a Potter book the day it’s released.

Movies on the Midcoast Yet again, this year’s festival tackles an admirable hodgepodge of subjects — online gaming junkies, Harry Potter fanatics, and even Cockney gangsters in London’s East End.

Can't escape Snape at LeakyCon Sure, Figawi Race Weekend is a blast, but how many times in my life would I have the opportunity to mingle with more than 750 J.K. Rowling devotees? So, this past Memorial Day weekend, I decided to skip Nantucket and join the all-ages, international assembly of Potter-heads at Boston's Park Plaza Hotel for LeakyCon 2009.

How big is Harry Potter Considering all the hype surrounding the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series, you would think that the July 21 release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is one of the most anticipated events in human history.

Hairy Potter Whatever else it may be, the Harry Potter Edda is surely the most popular narrative about the dawning of pubertal awareness ever created.

Comics for Christ Young Laurel Templeton spends her summer vacation “kidnapped by five cyborg flies and shrunk down to insect size so [she can] travel back in time with them to save the world from an evil spider.” You know, typical stuff.